[19990223]RS20084_州宪法中的清洁环境权条款以及与联邦对应的论点.pdf

1According to one writer, Senator Gaylord Nelson in 1968 first proposed such a constitutionalamendment - one that would have recognized the inalienable right of every person to a decentenvironment. H.R. J. Res. 1321, 90th Cong., 2d Sess. (1968). Two years later, RepresentativeRichard Ottinger made a second, more comprehensive attempt at federal constitutional recognitionof such a right. H.R. J. Res. 1205, 91st Cong., 2d Sess. (1970). Mary E. Cusack, JudicialInterpretation of State Constitutional Rights to a Healthful Environment, 20 B.C. Envtl. AffairsL. Rev. 173, 175-176 (1993). Congressional Research Service The Library of CongressCRS Report for CongressReceived through the CRS WebOrder Code RS20084February 23, 1999Right to a Clean Environment Provisions in State Constitutions, and Arguments as toA Federal Counterpart(name redacted)Legislative AttorneyAmerican Law DivisionSummaryThe issue arises occasionally whether it might be desirable to amend the U.S.Constitution to add an environmental provision - such as one declaring an individualright to a clean environment. Some attention was given this issue during the 1970s,when over a dozen states adopted clean environment or other en